


Blut ist dicker als Wasser

by agent00ebil



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-24
Updated: 2013-07-08
Packaged: 2017-12-16 01:32:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/856258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agent00ebil/pseuds/agent00ebil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Because the thing about viruses is that they're easily manipulated. The DNA they inject doesn't have to be destructive. It can be replaced with almost any kind of DNA you want, and it can be programmed to only replace certain parts of the host's genetic code. In other words, viruses are perfect vectors for genetic engineering.”<br/>― Christian Cantrell</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Khan Noonien Singh

**Author's Note:**

> this story is to fill [this prompt](http://strek-id-kink.livejournal.com/1695.html?thread=198047#t198047) at the strek-id-kink lj-community

“The longer one lives, the more mysterious life seems.”

― Francis Brett Young, _Cold Harbour_

 

It had been two hours since Commander Spock had restrained him, one hour and fifty five minutes since Doctor McCoy had withdrawn a vial of his blood, and it would be three hours and ten minutes before it would be too late for their captain. Three hours and ten minutes until they would be the last of his family awake.

 

When Khan first awoke, he _feared_. He feared that it would happen all over again – after all, this Admiral Marcus chose to wake _him_ up, not one of the others. However, time was mysterious and beautiful mistress and no matter how deeply into the research archives he went, he couldn’t find a single mention to the truth – the terrible, terrible truth about the Eugenics program.

 

Contrary to modern belief, the augments weren’t all genetically engineered. No, only Khan had the auspicious ‘honor’ of being genetically engineered from conception. The only real ‘test tube’ baby of his kind. They mixed a little of this and a little of that – the human genome having been mapped out and completely known by the time of his creation. Only, they didn’t stop at human, they combined the best of everything they could find, and much of which they didn’t know. In the end, there was a squalling baby boy – _him_.

 

As the first successful, viable result, they tried to recreate him to no avail – every child… every _brother_ they tried to create died before they could open their eyes. Khan was 26 months old when they decided to go a different route – virology.

 

They used his DNA and programmed a virus, a virus that would change the host’s DNA to _his_. And then they made it a blood bourne pathogen and infected him. They turned him into a carrier for his own DNA. But they didn’t stop there. Shortly after they figured everything out, they added an orphanage to the facility where they took those who had nobody else in the world to speak for them and experimented on them – _with his blood_.

 

The only problem with this method is that those who were ~~infected~~ gifted only received a portion of his abilities. Victoria never received super strength, but she was the fastest of his sisters; Avinash had superior healing, but required glasses for reading; and McPhearson was brilliant, but lacked a lot of the instincts natural to most of his siblings.

 

No, what little the history books knew of his time thought all augments were created, were born augments. But really, Khan was the only _true_ born augment and everybody else, his family, were _his_.

 

When his thoughts turned to revenge, he knew he could use his blood to manipulate Lt. Harewood into blowing up the facility; he was the only man desperate enough to do _anything_ in order to save his daughter. But Khan didn’t want to leave this girl, a new potential sister behind, and so he modified his own blood, made sure it could _only_ heal before eliminating itself. It was a suicide mission with little chance for survival and it was only fitting that as the first, he would be the last.

 

Khan checked his mental clock again and smiled. Yes, in two hours and forty-nine minutes his family would grow and then there would be two of them awake and seventy-two of them asleep. In three hours he would escape from this cell, and in three hours and twelve minutes, he would be on a shuttle to the neutral zone with _his Jim_.


	2. James Tiberius Kirk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “If you get an infection, you get a fever; the fever is your body dealing with the infection. If you get traumatized, your mind and your brain have a reaction to that trauma. If you're not dreaming about it, something's probably wrong.”  
> ― Sebastian Junger

The first thing James thought he’d see when he opened his eyes was his father. The last thing he remembered was dying, and he supposed that at least he died for his crew and now he’d finally get to know his father and not the legend. When he first opened his eyes, a blinding light entered and quickly as possible, he closed them again. More slowly, James tried again, wondering if everybody experienced the blinding light when they first entered the afterlife. Gradually opening his eyes, he let confusion set in – instead of some wonderful utopia he looked to be in a medical bay.

 

The next thing James thought was perhaps that he was in hell. When he first started to wake, he hadn’t really noticed anything, but the longer he laid there, the hotter he realized he was. Curious about his surroundings, James tried to get his muddled brain to look for clues. It wasn’t the medbay on his girl, the _Enterprise_ , but he couldn’t honestly say if it was at one of the Starfleet headquarters or on starbase. What was odd is that, if he was actually alive, he would have thought Bones would be there with him. Even at the Academy, the one time he got a concussion in hand to hand, Bones was there when he woke up. Really, the best friend a guy could have. So the verdict was still out on if this meant he was alive or in some hellish nightmare.

 

James slowly looked around, partly in caution and partly because it took too much energy to move. There wasn’t much to see – it hurt to lift his head much, so he was limited to what he could see by turning his head. What he saw just worried him more – there was _no one_ in this medical bay. It looked completely deserted. It was becoming more and more likely that for some reason, he was stuck in a nightmare for the rest of his existential existence – he could almost imagine Frank telling him ‘ _It serves you right you good for nothing boy!’_.

 

James closed his eyes, drifting in and out of consciousness. Minutes – or hours, James wasn’t quite sure which, his head felt too fuzzy to keep hold of time – later, James heard the whoosh of doors opening – doors which happened to be on the opposite end of the medbay that he was facing. A part of James didn’t want to turn his head and open his eyes to look, he ached too much and _– “Do I really want to see what sort of demons the afterlife can conjure up for me?”_ But slowly, ever so slowly, James started to turn his head towards the sound of the footsteps nearing his bed.

 

A smooth voice halted his progress, a voice he knew _but couldn’t quite place_ , the owner’s name at the tip of his tongue but the heat – _oh the heat_ – seemed to weigh it down. The voice said only one word, “James”

 

Soon a hand, a cool and wonderful hand touched his forehead. If he could have leaned into it more, he would have. James figured he must have made some sort of noise because the man shushed him gently. James wanted to open his eyes and see who was with him, but before he could muster the energy, he felt the prick of a hypospray and the hiss of medication entering his system.

 

The last thing James heard was the voice gently telling him, “Go to sleep, Jim. Your body needs its rest; your family will be waiting when you awake next. _I_ will be waiting…” as a hand stroked through his hair.

 

_“Family,”_ thought Jim, “ _family is nice…”_ It was a testament to both his exhaustion and the drugs that his last attempt to open his eyes failed and soon James was sleeping. Sleeping as more and more of his DNA was augmented by the virus running through his veins – fixing him, _improving him_ , to such a level that he would never be the same. Had he been in the right frame of mind, he would probably realize how wrong this situation was, wonder more about what happened to the Enterprise, and where all his friends were; However, James wasn’t concerned about that right now as he dreamed of the voice, cool hands, and _family_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the comments & kudos! Next chapter will be Khan again :)


	3. Interlude: Leonard H. McCoy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Worry is most often a prideful way of thinking that you have more control over life and its circumstances than you actually do.”  
> ― June Hunt

The kid was going to drive him to an early grave – he just _knew_ it.

 

Watching Jim laying there in the Medical Bay, _his_ Med Bay, cold as a rock, Len felt so useless. What good was bein’ a doctor if you couldn’t save your best friend.  So when they discovered that _that bastard’s_ blood might save him – Len was relieved. It had been a handful of years, but Jim was the only family he had left besides his precious little Jo.

 

The whole room had been silent when he had administered the blood serum - waiting with bated breath until the first bleep of the heart monitor came to life. Jim was going to make it. But there was also work to do.

 

Len shooed all non-essential personnel out of the Med Bay – even the hobgoblin knew he had to go, the ship was falling apart at the seams and he would need to oversee docking at the Space Port before filing reports. Great juniper, there would be lots of reports.

 

Setting his PADD to monitor Jim’s vitals, Len let himself get distracted by the hub and flow of patients coming in after their haphazard decent into Earth’s atmosphere. The worst had been treated while they were waiting for Spock to come back with the bastard, but there was still a steady stream coming in after they stabilized their stations.

 

“Ze Keptain, he vill make it, da?” Len looked didn’t look away from the Ensign on the table, he could tell right away it was Chekov. Apparently he hadn’t left.

 

“Yeah, Jim’s a fighter. He’ll make it.”

 

Len finished up with the Ensign before turning to Chekov, “You’ve been seen to?”

 

Chekov nodded, “Da.”

 

There was a silence before, “I vas thinking, I could sit with ze Keptain”

 

Len looked over Chekov’s shoulder at Jim before turning back to Chekov, “Sure kid.”

 

Len watched for a moment as Chekov walked over to Jim before looking down at the PADD in his hand, Jim’s vitals at the forefront and for a moment wished he could sit over there and keep his friend company. But he knew the gesture would be more for his own comfort than Jim’s, and that’s why he had the PADD. Chekov adored Jim and as a Doctor, he knew that Chekov needed to see him to believe it.

 

The hours seemed to move slower than molasses yet quicker than a bee in spring. Len looked around, surveying what needed to be done. It was like one of those moments you only saw in the vids – where everything seemed to go in slow motion.

 

Len shook his head before he realized that no – really – everything was slowing down.

 

“ _Something’s_ ,” Len started to think, “ _Something’s. Not. Not right.”_ – The last thought Len had before passing out was, “ _Jim!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Bones, you're harder to write without Jim...


	4. Interlude: S'chn T'gai Spock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “The truth." Dumbledore sighed. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution.”  
> ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Spock calmly turned towards the ensign, “I’m afraid I do not understand human concepts of humor.”

 

The ensign looked nervous and wringed his hands together before coming to a decision – evident by the straightening of his spine.

 

“Sir, this is not a joke. The Captain is missing and everybody in Medical Bay is unconscious. Lt. Giotto has posted security around the ship and…”

 

Spock signaled for the ensign to continue, “…and all of the cryotubes are missing.”

 

Spock knew the moment the ensign mentioned cryotubes who was behind his Captains disappearance.

 

From the side, he could hear Nyota’s whisper, steeped in horrified surprise, “Khan!”

 

“Computer, Locate John Harrison”

 

“Negative. John Harrison is not aboard.”

 

Spock let that information sink into his brain before he turned to Lt. Sulu, “Lt. Sulu, scan surrounding space for other ships.”

 

“Aye, Commander, scanning now.” – it took a beat before Lt. Sulu turned back to him, Spock knew the answer before Sulu could voice it, the grimace on his face was message enough, “Negative. There are no unauthorized ships in our radius...” Sulu paused before continuing, “Our scanners were too damaged from the attack. Sorry Commander.”

 

Spock could feel his anger boiling in the back of his mind at Khan – at Marcus – at the situation, but he was Vulcan and _he would be logical_. First he would need to contact Starfleet Command to report the escape of John Harrison – or known to only a few as Khan – and the kidnap of their Captain. Then he would have to present a logical argument as to why he needed to be on the recovery mission. Nobody else knew what Khan was capable of – of what his counterpart had hinted at. Then they would find Khan and _get their captain back_.

 

“Lt. Uhura, open comm with Starfleet Command.”

 

How the actual conversation with Starfleet Command went was as far from expectation as Spock could have imagined, if Vulcans imagined. If the Enterprise had been in travel ready condition, Spock would not have hesitated to pursue Khan – but the Enterprise could barely sustain gravity in dock and Command decided that they needed to expend their resources on the situation planet side; that they didn’t have a ship available that could pursue at this time.

 

Spock realized he should have talked to Command from the Captain’s Ready Room as he saw the thinly disguised anger on his crewmate’s faces. Anger that they displayed fully the moment the connection was dropped. He could hear the angry mutterings breakout around the bridge.

 

Khan had taken their Captain, but he forgot one thing – Jim was his friend and if there was one lesson Spock had learned from him was that you don’t leave friends behind. It would take a few hours, and a call to his father and perhaps his self from an alternate future, but they would have a ship and they would get him back.

 

Spock was 98.365% certain that more than the command team would be volunteering for this mission – even if it ended up being off the books.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm calling both this chapter and the previous interludes because I wrote them and then realized that while there was some plot going on, there wasn't a lot of new material that couldn't be explained later one. I went back and forth about if I should post them or not, but I thought that maybe people would want to read them. I waited though, until I had a _third_ chapter to update with that moved the plot forward :)


	5. Khan Noonien Singh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “People aren't born good or bad. Maybe they're born with tendencies either way, but its the way you live your life that matters.”  
> ― Cassandra Clare, City of Glass

Khan brushed his hand through Jim’s hair, admiring him as he slept. He looked so content laying there. It had been a few days, but Khan could already see some of the changes his DNA wrought on the man. For one, he was healing and there was a healthier color returning to the former Captain’s skin.

Khan continued his inspection of Jim, making note of any changes since he last checked up on him. It was the first time Jim had stirred to consciousness and Khan was both happy that he was waking and cautious. Cautious because, from the interactions he’d had with the Captain and what he could extrapolate about his personality, Khan knew the man would lash out against Khan. The biggest things working in his favor though was the fact that even with their level of healing, Jim would be too weak to do anything about it for at least another week.  Khan would use that week.

Interrupting Khan from his thoughts, the computer signaled that they were approaching the Neutral Zone. With one last sweep through the Captains hair, Khan left the Medical Bay and made his way to the bridge.

“Captain on bridge”

Khan nodded to his brother and turned towards the helm, “Thank you. Ships?”

“There are no signs of any ships in the area.”

Khan nodded, “Our prisoners?”

“Secure.”

Khan grinned; everything was going according to plan, “Good. Set course for the first M-Class planet you can find. We’ll drop them there.” – That decision would baffle Starfleet enough to delay them in their pursuit of them.

The escape plan had been ingenious, if he could say so himself. After hacking the ships computer – which was made easier by the fact that everybody was too busy trying to hold the ship together than to pay attention for sabotage – Khan had sent orders to a nearby explorer craft to tend aid to the Enterprise by taking on some of its cargo. After the cryotubes had been transferred, Khan beamed himself and Kirk aboard and had taken over the small ship.

After he had settled Kirk in the Medical Bay, Khan woke his family up from their slumber. With his family he was unstoppable. Now they just had to get rid of their extra cargo – contrary to Starfleet’s beliefs, Khan did not like killing. He would kill when he had to, but he was benevolent and he would spare this ship’s former crew, if only so that Jim wouldn’t be overly stressed when he finally learned of their fate.

His family worked efficiently around him, adapting to the modern technologies like fish to water. It was like they had never been missing centuries. For the first time in nearly a year, Khan knew that everything would work out. 

Khan spent the next eight hours on the bridge with his family – scavenging the Neutral Zone for a decent M-class planet, but a part of his mind was more pleasantly occupied with the man recovering in the Medical Bay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, phew - 1 chapter + 2 interludes :) Now I don't need to write for a month, right?? (just kidding, put away those pitchforks!!). Hope you enjoy reading them :)

**Author's Note:**

> Please note, this is a work in progress and it will be a work in progress for awhile. Updates will happen when they happen and I can't make them happen any faster :/ but I do enjoy comments and kudos :) I hope you enjoy!


End file.
